Yemeni military forces were preparing to launch a major onslaught on rebel fighters in the northern province of Saada if they do not agree to surrender, government sources were quoted by Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa as saying Saturday. The sources said Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with senior army and police commanders in the capital Sana'a on the proper action against armed followers of rebel leader Abdul-Malik al- Houthi. Houthi and scores of his backers had been stuck in a standoff with army forces in the northern province of Saada, some 230 kilometres north of Sanaa, since armed confrontations between the two sides renewed in late December. At least 11 army and police troops and an unknown number of rebel fighters were killed in the fighting during the past week, reported dpa. The state news agency Saba said Saleh headed a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council that discussed "the recent developments in Saada and acts committed by the terrorist elements against army and police troops."
